Thunder
by mysticaldreams
Summary: Tonks is terrified of storms and as she is at Grimmauld place a while after ehem dies it doesn't make them any pleasenter, but all that might change when she meets a certain dragon handling Weasley. . .(not romance)


Ok so this is just a shweet little fic I thought I'd try my hand on and I think it turned out pretty good. It's not a romance fanfic, it's just a sort of fun one. So go ahead and read on!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Thunder  
  
The thunder rumbled threateningly outside and the lightning cracked like a whip, sending Nymphadora Tonks to jump ten feet into the air, her bubblegum pink hair changing rapidly to florescent orange spikes from the shock.  
  
She winced as another clap of lightening cracked, illuminating the dark house of number twelve Grimmauld place.  
  
She hated this place altogether, but she hated it even more when it was storming, sending eerie light across the dusty old pictures and ugly heads of long dead house elves.  
  
It might have been the fact that she feared storms in general or that this house gave her the creeps from the many terrifying lingering memories that she could remember of her great Aunt and Uncle, but she felt like she was six years old again and scared of everything.  
  
She told herself logically that their was no way a banshee could get into the house because it was protected by numerous concealing charms but she still caught herself glancing over her shoulder into the darkness that lay behind her.  
  
She finally made her way into the kitchen, grumbling to herself about how order meetings were always too late and how she always had to stay the night at this godforsaken house or walk the three blocks in the freezing cold with moody to apparate back home unnoticed.  
  
She switched on the light, grateful for the warm glow that surrounded her, but to her shock, someone already occupied the down stairs room at these early hours of the morning.  
  
Sitting slumped half on the table, half on the wooden bench, a young man, no older then Tonks herself was sleeping soundlessly. She gazed at his flaming red hair and automatically went through the list of all the Weasley children.  
  
It definitely wasn't Ginny, she thought to herself, it couldn't be Fred or George, they were inseparable, you'd never see one without the other, nor could it be Ron, he was with Arthur at the Burrow and it couldn't be Bill either, he had long hair.  
  
The only two Weasley sons Tonks hadn't met were Percy, who, from what she had heard, would never even think of setting foot in the head quarters of the Order of the Phoenix let alone know where it is. So this left Charlie, the second oldest, who as she recalled handled dragons in Romania. But she didn't remember seeing him at the meeting; he must have come in late.  
  
She proceeded to study his facial features, he looked just like all of the Weasley's; tall, but not as tall as Ron who had grown at least another two inches over the summer, he had many freckles, but he had his own uniqueness about him, she could see his hands had many blisters and scratches all over them (must be tuff, working with dragons) and he seemed muscular, but his face held a very content quality to it, one of which she hadn't seen in any of the other Weasley's.  
  
She silently crept over to the cupboard on the far wall where she new the chocolate frogs were kept, trying desperately not to make any noise, but like all the other times when Tonks wanted to be quiet, her klutziness always took over and she ended up tripping over one of the chair legs and falling flat on her face.  
  
She moaned from the floor and heard the scraping of the stool near the table.  
  
Charlie Weasley had his wand out, approaching her cautiously, just as his father had taught him when he was young.  
  
Tonks sat up, rubbing her cheek where it had hit the wooden floor boards.  
  
"It's alright, I'm part of the order" she mumbled, embarrassed that her clumsiness had, once again, made a nuisance.  
  
Charlie released his grip on his wand.  
  
"You'd be Nymphadora Tonks? Am I right?" he asked, a wide grin spreading across his face which very much reminded Tonks of his twin brothers.  
  
"Yes, the clumsy one" Tonks said with a weak smile, "Call me Tonks"  
  
Charlie offered her his hand to help her up.  
  
"Charlie Weasley" he introduced, "Ginny told me all about you"  
  
She laughed, "That girl's got it in for you lot, I can tell you, she's learnt to defend herself, you should have seen her fight against Fred and George yesterday!"  
  
"Don't worry, she hasn't always been innocent, when she was three she stole my wand and started to send sparks at me"  
  
They both laughed.  
  
Charlie took a seat back on the bench, his tired eyes scanning the kitchen.  
  
"Sorry I woke you up" Tonks apologized as she walked over to the wooden cupboard.  
  
"It's alright; I've become somewhat nocturnal since my boss has started giving me night shifts in Romania"  
  
"Have you come to visit the family?"  
  
"That and Dumbledore told me he wanted to send me on a mission of some sort that they'll need my help in"  
  
Everything went silent for a moment as Tonks rustled around in the cupboard for her secret stash of chocolates. She didn't like talking about order business when it wasn't necessary; it reminded her of Sirius' Death in the ministry. She knew she would have to over come it some time, but she was happy to avoid it for now.  
  
"So what are you up this late for?" Charlie asked her.  
  
She finally grasped her hand around a plastic wrapper and pulled several more out of the far corner.  
  
"I get hungry" she said simply, brandishing a handful of chocolate frogs, "want one?"  
  
He nodded and she tossed one over to him. She then proceeded to make a cup of coffee. She could feel his eyes staring at her, and as the thunder continued to rumble outside she remembered that her hair was still the florescent orange it had turned when she had been startled on her way downstairs. She squinted her eyes in concentration and it immediately turned back to its much loved pink, this time, flowing down to her shoulders.  
  
"You know I've never met a Metamorphmagus before" Charlie stated, "I bet it's fun"  
  
Tonks could tell that his youth was showing at the added comment at the end of his acknowledgment.  
  
"Yeah, but it has it's bad sides too, for example when I fell flat on my face as I came in" she explained, "I'm so clumsy because I'm always changing my body structure to fit different appearances, one day my legs could be short and stumping, the next the could be long and thin"  
  
"I never thought of it that way" Charlie pondered, "It must be good for your Auror training though"  
  
"Yeah, it's why I decided to be an Auror in the first place, that's how I came into the Order" She said, bringing two steaming mugs of coffee over to the table.  
  
"Thanks" Charlie said as she handed him one.  
  
"So how did you find this place as headquarters?" Charlie inquired.  
  
"It looks like it belongs to a death eater"  
  
Tonks smirked, "As good as one"  
  
Charlie looked at her perplexedly.  
  
"This was the house of my great Aunt and Uncles" Tonks said unimpressively.  
  
"Oh"  
  
"Let's just say they weren't very keen on the muggle born side of things"  
  
"That sort, eh?"  
  
"Yep, they thought V-Voldemort had the right idea" Tonks said the name, determined to show that she was not frightened of the dark wizard.  
  
Charlie was a little startled that she had said the name, only just getting used to the fact of saying it himself.  
  
"So how did you inherit it?"  
  
Tonks felt a sharp stab at her heart, and her breathing suddenly cut short, she knew she had to say his name, knew she'd have to talk about him, knew she'd have to think of him. She sighed deeply, she hated the thought, but she'd have to explain, she couldn't live like this for the rest of her life.  
  
"I didn't inherit it, though I might as well now" she started.  
  
"It belonged to the Blacks, Sirius Black; their son"  
  
Charlie hadn't been told much, but he had been told the Sirius Black was, in fact innocent and that he had recently died trying to protect his Godson, Harry. He wished he had of gotten to know the guy, find out his true identity and nature, after all, it must have been hard having to live your whole life with the people going off the false information that you had betrayed your best friend and his family.  
  
"Were you his cousin?" Charlie asked, he couldn't think of anything else to say.  
  
"You could say that, but he was more like a cross between a big brother and uncle who dropped around every once in a while" she said memorably, "he always used to make me laugh"  
  
Tonks smiled weakly at this thought, remembering his laughing face. She hadn't been as close to Sirius as many others, but like everyone, she had also been deeply affected by his death, Harry on the other hand . . . She cut short of her pondering, not wanting her thoughts to wander in that part of her mind.  
  
"When he came around to baby sit me when mum and dad went out he used to let me stay up late and eat heaps of ice-cream until I got sick. When my mum got home we used to put dyed green bubbly soap around my mouth and tell her that I had caught an incurable disease. I honestly don't know why she kept him as a babysitter, he was a parent's worst nightmare, but she trusted him. Everyone trusted him" Tonks ended quietly.  
  
"I don't know why I'm telling you this" she said with a short laugh.  
  
"It's alright, he sounds like a nice man, I wish I had of gotten to know him"  
  
Tonks ran her fingers through her shoulder length pink hair.  
  
"I'm just worried about Remus" she stated, saying exactly what she was thinking.  
  
"Good man, Lupin" Charlie put in, "I wish I could do more for him"  
  
"So do I" Tonks said quietly, staring off into space.  
  
"It's going to be full moon next week. I don't want to imagine what he'll do to himself, even with the potion Severus makes him it won't help with his emotions on overload, plus, Sirius had been keeping him company in his animagus form these last few months"  
  
Everything went quiet again.  
  
Charlie was happy to be confided in; obviously Tonks had a lot she needed to get off her chest and he didn't mind, he hadn't interacted with people much over the last month, his boss giving him night shifts, and there was only so much you could tell a dragon.  
  
There was another loud clap of thunder from outside and Tonks winced slightly. Then, with sudden force, she jumped from her chair, knocking it over with a clatter.  
  
Charlie jumped in his own chair and looked over at Tonks who held a face of pure excitement.  
  
"I've got it!"  
  
"Got what?" Charlie asked, a smile creeping onto his features at her girlish enthusiasm.  
  
"Why didn't I think of it before?" she aimlessly asked herself.  
  
"It'd be hard . . . nearly impossible, but it might work . . . if I tried hard enough" Tonks continued muttering, half forgetting that someone else was in the room with her.  
  
Charlie waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention and Tonks jumped slightly at being jutted out of her musings.  
  
"So what is this brilliant idea all about?" he asked, laughing slightly.  
  
"A way to help Remus" Tonks said as she started to pace up the room.  
  
"Well Metamorphmagus' can turn into any human form that they can remember, but it's different for animals, even though they're living and breathing, you have to learn to understand them; become familiar with them" Tonks explained.  
  
"So if you become an animal you can accompany Remus when he transforms"  
  
"Exactly"  
  
"But how can you become 'acquainted' with an animal?" Charlie asked now rapt in attention.  
  
"It's a little like learning how to become an animagus, but a lot easier for Metamorphmagus' because we have the building blocks of transforming to start off with. You have to pick an animal that you can relate to and then sort of, become that animal; focus your whole mind on it" she said.  
  
"Have you tried it before?"  
  
"Once, about three years ago, but I hadn't developed enough, and I haven't tried it since because I never needed it. I read in a book that it was only performed by the most advanced Metamorphmagus', but if I try hard enough, I know I can do it"  
  
Tonks spread a wide grin onto her face and hope flowed through her body. She had wanted to help Remus ever since she had met him and finally, she could.  
  
Charlie smiled at her happiness. Just over the half hour that he had spent with Tonks he already had taken a liking to her. She seemed friendly and fun, one of those loyal people you could rely on no matter what.  
  
Within her now content mood Tonks yawned and realized how sleepy she was, the Order meeting had, after all, run way over-time and proceeded late into the night and here she was, at the early hours of the morning, pouring her ideas and musings out to someone she had just met. All in all, she now felt exhausted.  
  
"Well I'm going back to bed now that's all sorted out, and I'll start first thing in the morning!" She said happily.  
  
Charlie smiled.  
  
She went over to him and shook his hand.  
  
"You know I'm really glad I met you" she said with a tone that told him she meant what she had said.  
  
"You too" he said smiling.  
  
"Night"  
  
"Night Tonks"  
  
With that Tonks departed from the kitchen and made her way back up the stairs to the first floor landing, but the gloomy pictures and creeping shadows could not suppress her now cheerful spirit, she felt nothing could possibly make her unhappy at the moment- a clap of thunder clashed outside.  
  
She jumped again and her fear of storms came pelting back to her in full throttle as she stood once more in the eerie darkness of the Black mansion. Her six year old self once again raised within her and she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder at the contorted picture frames and never-ending blackness behind her . . . she didn't know what could come out of that empty, dark space.  
  
She looked up the staircase. She would have to climb two more landings to get to her own bedroom again and with her increasing fear of the howling wind and flashing lightening outside she didn't at any cost want to go up there alone in the darkness and stay there.  
  
Tonks made some quick decisions and then turned back around towards the light that was flooding from the kitchen. Yes, she felt very stupid and embarrassed, but she would never sleep if she stayed in that dark room by herself. So she slowly crept back into the kitchen, hoping Charlie was asleep so she wouldn't have to explain her rather childish situation. But to no such luck, Charlie was sitting at the table with a dreamy expression on his face as he stared at the wall, his head resting on one of his hands.  
  
As Tonks appeared in the doorway he turned to look at her with a quizzical look.  
  
She felt her cheeks heat up as she opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"I hate storms, can stay in here with you?" she asked innocently, aware of how much she sounded like a toddler talking to her mum.  
  
Charlie laughed, but it wasn't a mocking laugh, it was a warm one.  
  
"Sure"  
  
~*~  
  
Woohoo! That's it! Did ya like it? I think it's one of my better ones. I didn't want it to be all romancy and that. I just thought it was a sweet little fic. Well tell me what you think with a review, which would be heaps appreciated! Feel free to check out my other fics if you like it! Thanx!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


End file.
